Car Conjunction At Brunei Schools Gets Worse, Says Report

Bandar Seri Begawan – Car, cars and cars and it is becoming a problem.

With the increasing volume of cars on the country's roads each year, the level of traffic also undoubtedly reaches gridlock at certain areas and times of the day.

As everyone can attest to, this is especially true around schools early in the morning, during lunchtime and later in the afternoon, a commentary on the local television highlghts.

Motorists must therefore be more careful and tolerant when driving around these areas, it adds.

Taking a look at the road conditions around school zones and the potential dangers that lurk for children has become a major danger.

This has become a regular scene at every main junction at every school.

The increasing number of cars, the weather, the gridlock and human behaviour are all factors that can lead to potential hazards that are waiting to happen from just one single, careless mistake, the police said.

Out of the, 127 schools in the Brunei-Muara district that include government and private nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools, there, are over 70,000 students at these schools.

Land Transport Department statistics indicate a December 2003 count showed there were 244,530 registered vehicles on Brunei roads.

Add to that an average increase of at least a thousand vehicles each month one can therefore agree that the number of cars increases with, each passing month, a Radio Television Brunei news item comments.

The wealth of any nation is in its children and this is even more so the case for Brunei.

With a population of 358,000 at least 30 percent or 106,000 are under the age of 14.

Yet, despite all the concerns and care, that are lavished towards the welfare and protection of our children, the reality is that at certain school areas, children are still seen crossing the roads dangerously with fast-flowing traffic just to get to their waiting transportation across the road.

Children, especially young ones, need to be protected and supervised at all times because they do- not have the capacity or knowledge to protect them, the news clip adds.

The lack of adequate safety crossings at most schools is the reason that these children sometimes cross the roads precariously. But this is a dangerous reason, especially when facing fast oncoming traffic. An ounce of prevention outweighs a gallon of tears.

But at some schools, traffic police are deployed to make some order out of the gridlock and they do provide some relief. With the fast-pace of life today, it seems that everybody has a destination to reach with a constraint of time.

Yet, a few seconds of patience and a whim of tolerance can sometimes mean the difference between more aggravated waiting or a less stressful day.

But even with the police presence, some motorists still turned a blind eye to their instructions.

But the message among a majority of concerned parents was a call for more patience and tolerance.

We have even heard of reports that some concerned parents have taken their own initiative and civic duty in directing the traffic jams.

Surprisingly, from these reports, the other motorists actually heed their directions.

There have been various calls, from various organizations and concerned parents alike to improve the school crossing situation at schools.

Some schools do employ their own traffic wardens to redirect traffic but only within their own compounds.

The police presence is not found at all school areas, but we, have discovered that the schools themselves can and should apply for police support.

The Royal Brunei Police Force informs us that they are willing to locate traffic police at school areas but only if these schools explicitly ask for them, so, in the meantime, the dangerous situation still prevails.

There are more cars on the roads and there are more students crossing these same roads every day.

All we can hope for is that people do show more patience and tolerance, adds the TV commentary. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei 

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